Iranian historian Goudarz Rashtiani will publish two books about Vladimir Minorsky presently. The works will be about the research sources of the Russian Orientalist which present precious information.
IBNA: The books will be about the list of Minorsky’s research sources as well as his life and scientific report.
Vladimir Fedorovich Minorsky was a Russian Orientalist best known for his contributions to the study of Kurdish and Persian history, geography, literature, and culture.
For one of the books, which holds the list of Minorsky’s researching sources, his personal manuscripts, which are kept at the Institute of Oriental Manuscripts of the Russian Academy of Sciences, were used.
The archive contains Minorsky’s academic research, personal and family documents, academic projects conducted by other scholars, his personal photos, and a collection of his articles published in magazines and newspapers.
Jointly written with Nahid Abdultajedini, the book will be published by the press of Majlis Library, Museum and Document Center.
The letters, which Minorsky received from Iranian literati including Sadeq Hedayat, Mohammad Ali Jamalzadeh, Iraj Afshar, Mojtaba Minavi and Manuchehr Sotudeh, are also kept in the archive.
The other book will be about the Russian figure’s life and scientific report which will most probably released by Hermes Publications.
Minorsky made his first trip to Iran in 1902. In 1903, he entered the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, serving from 1904 to 1908 in Iran, first in the Tabriz Consulate-General and then the Tehran Legation, and from 1908 to 1912 in Saint Petersburg and Tashkent.
His surveys in Iran also provided invaluable material for his 1915 work, 'Materials for the Study of the East', published by the Imperial Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, St. Petersburg.
Minorsky received numerous honors during his lifetime, including being made a Corresponding Fellow of the British Academy in 1943, Honorary Member of the Société Asiatique of Paris in 1946, and Doctor Honoris Causa of the University of Brussels in 1948.
Source: Iran Book News Agency (IBNA)
